Good News in History, June 3

On this day 235 years ago, Jack Jouett began his successful midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson, then the Governor of Virginia, and the state legislature of an impending British cavalry raid intending to capture them. The Virginia patriot rode 40 miles to Charlottesville to warn them, giving Jefferson time to head south with lawmakers who set up the temporary capital of the state in Staunton where they continued the business of the state. Just a few months later the British surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown. (1781)

MORE Good News from this day in History:

The poemCasey at the Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published in the San Francisco Examiner (1888)

Lou Gehrig and his teammate Tony Lazzeri hit four home runs in one game, and hit for the natural cycle, respectively. These two feats are both less common than a perfect game, which has occurred twenty-one times in one-hundred and twenty years (1932)

In Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that all accused persons must be given the right to an attorney (1960)

Reggae star Bob Marley‘s classic album Exodus was released, which was named “Album of the Century” by Time magazine in 1999 (1977)

Barack Obama became the first African-American to emerge from a primary season of any major political party capturing the role as presumptive nominee for President of the United States – beating Hillary Clinton for the honor (2008)

New Hampshire became the sixth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage (2009)

Also, on this day in 1965, NASA astronaut Ed White became the first American to walk in space. During the Gemini 4 mission he opened the hatch and used a hand-held oxygen-jet gun to push himself out of the capsule and propel himself to the end of the 8-meter tether. In this photo by Commander James McDivitt over a cloud-covered Pacific Ocean, the maneuvering gun is visible in White’s right hand. The visor of his helmet is gold-plated to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. (Click to enlarge photo, and watch the astronauts describe the experience in the NASA 50th Anniversary video below.)